The present disclosure relates to scanning of optical machine-readable representation of data, also known as barcodes, and more specifically, to a barcode design that reduces unintentional scanning.
With the recent advent of smartphones that have the ability to image and scan barcodes, businesses have been seeking to use barcode technology to market to consumers via their smartphones. Two-dimensional barcodes, in particular, are seen as useful marketing tools due to the amount of information that can be encoded therein. Businesses that want to connect to the consumers have designed two-dimensional barcodes that include encoded information such as a website or other link, with the idea that when the consumer scans the barcodes with his or her smartphone, the smartphone accesses the web link, which generally has a targeted message for the consumer. As a matter of convenience, these marketing barcodes are often printed on an outer surface of a package. Unfortunately, Universal Product Codes (UPCs) that provide price and inventory information are also found on the outside of these product packages and are generally in a proximate location with respect to the two-dimensional barcode. Due to their proximity, a cashier or consumer may mistakenly scan the marketing barcodes instead of the UPC code. This may lead to a minor inconvenience or to a mistaken charge to the consumer depending on the ability of the scanning device.